Agenda and minutes

(Budget), Council - Wednesday, 1st March, 2017 6.05 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Oldham, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1NL. View directions

Contact: Liz Drogan 

Items
No. Item

1.

To receive apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A. Alexander, Ames, Kirkham, T. Larkin, Rehman and Williams.

 

2.

To receive declarations of interest in any matter to be determined at the meeting

Minutes:

The Mayor informed the meeting that the Standards Committee had granted a dispensation to allow Members who had an interest arising from ownership or occupation of property in Oldham, to participate and vote on the setting of the Council Tax and matters directly related to such decisions including the budget calculations.  All members declared a pecuniary interest in Item 4 – Budget Proposals, but the dispensation was applicable allowing Members to participate and vote on Item 4.

 

In accordance with the Code of Conduct, the following Councillors declared an interest in Item 4 as indicated:

 

Councillor Jabbar declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the Unity Partnership Board and the Unity Joint Venture Board.

Councillor McCann declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the Unity Partnership Board, Unity Joint Venture Board and the MioCare Board.

Councillor Wrigglesworth declared a personal interest by virtue of her appointment to the Positive Steps Board.

Councillor Harrison declared a personal interest by virtue of her appointment to the MioCare Board.

Councillor Chadderton declared a personal interest by virtue of her appointment to the Positive Steps Board.

Councillor Stretton declared a personal interest by virtue of her appointment to the Unity Partnership Board.

Councillor Dean declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the Unity Partnership Board and Unity Joint Venture Board.

Councillor Ginny Alexander declared a personal interest by virtue of her appointment to the MioCare Board.

Councillor Fielding declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the Positive Steps Board.

Councillor Ur-Rehman declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the Unity Partnership Board.

Councillor Harkness declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the Positive Steps Board.

Councillor Sykes declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the Unity Partnership Board.

Councillor Chauhan declared a personal interest by virtue of his appointment to the MioCare Board.

Councillor Roberts declared a personal interest by virtue of her appointment to the Positive Steps Board.

 

3.

To receive communications relating to the business of the Council

Minutes:

The Mayor expressed his thanks to everyone who supported the Civic Ball which was held on Friday, 24th February 2017.  The Mayor also welcomed Councillor Jacques to his first Council meeting.

 

4.

To note the draft Minutes of the Budget Cabinet Meeting held on the 20th February 2017 and to consider the recommendations of Cabinet in relation to the Budget for 2016/17 further to the following attached reports: pdf icon PDF 214 KB

 

a)    Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2017/18 to 2020/21

b)    Housing Revenue Account Estimates for 2016/17 to 2020/21

c)     Statement of the Chief Financial Officer on Reserves, Robustness of the Estimates and Affordability and Prudence of Capital Investments

d)    Council Budget 2017/18 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2017/18 to 2020/21 – Policy Landscape, Local Government Finance Settlement and Forecast Budget Gap Update

e)    Council Budget 2017/18 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2017/18 to 2020/21 – Administration Budget Proposals

f)      Liberal Democrat’s Budget Amendment Proposals 2017/18

g)    Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2017/18

 

And if thought fit, pass the followingresolutions:

1 That it be noted that on 23 January 2017, the following amounts wereapproved by the Cabinet as the Council's Council Tax Base for the financial year2017/18:

(a) 54,905 for the whole Council area [Item T in the formula in Section 31B ofthe Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the"Act")]

(b) 8,458 for dwellings in the Saddleworth Parish area to which a Parishprecept relates

(c) 5,316 for dwellings in the Shaw and Crompton Parish area to which aParish precept relates

2 That the Council Meeting approve the Council Tax Requirement for theCouncil’s own purposes for 2017/18 (excluding Parish precepts) as being£82,473,350

 

3 That the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2017/18in accordance with sections 31A to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act1992:

 

(a) £602,715,672

being the aggregate of the amounts which theCouncil estimates for the items set out in section 31A(2) ofthe Act taking into account any Precepts for theSaddleworth and Shaw & Crompton Parishareas

(b) £519,984,880

being the aggregate of the amounts which theCouncil estimates for the items set out in section 31A(3) ofthe Act

(c)  £82,730,792

being the amount by which the aggregate at 3(a)above exceeds the aggregate at 3(b) above, calculated bythe Council, in accordance with section 31A(4) of the Act,as its Council Tax Requirement for the year (Item R inthe formula in Section 31B of the Act).

(d)       £1,506.80

being the amount at 3(c) above, all divided by ItemT (1(a) above), calculated by the Council, inaccordance with section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount ofits Council Tax for the year (including Parishprecepts).

(e)        £257,442 

being the aggregate amount of all special itemsreferred to in section 34(1) of the Act, being the Saddleworthand Shaw & Crompton Parish precepts.

(f)      £1,502.11

being the amount at 3(d) above less the result givenby dividing the amount at 3(e) above by the amount byItem T (1(a) above), calculated by the Council, inaccordance with section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount ofits council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts ofits area to which no special item relates.

(g)      £1,522.46

Saddleworth Parisharea

being the amounts given by adding to the amount at3(f) above the amounts of the special item  ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Mayor requested and it was RESOLVED that Council Procedure 10.7 (Rules of Debate) be suspended to enable the Deputy Leader of the Council to exceed the time limit for his contribution in moving the Administration Budget to 15 minutes with a 30 second extension and the Leader of the Main Opposition Group in moving the Main Opposition Budget, a time limit of 10 minutes with a 30 second extension.  All other speakers would be limited to 4 minutes with a 30 second extension.

 

The Mayor informed the Council that regulations had been implemented which required recorded votes on specific decisions at the Budget meeting.  Members would be advised when a recorded vote was required.

 

Prior to consideration of the Budget Proposals, the Mayor asked the Council to note the draft minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 20th February 2017.

 

On a vote being taken, the recommendation was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 20th February 2017 be noted.

 

a)       Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2017/18 to 2020/21

 

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Stretton SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which set out the Capital Strategy for 2017/18 to 2020/21 and thereby the proposed 2017/18 Capital Programme which included identified capital investment priorities, together with the indicative Capital Programme for 2018/19 to 2020/21, having regard to the resources available over the life of the programme.

 

No members spoke on this item.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.       The Capital Strategy for 2017/18 to 2020/21 at Appendix 1 to the report and summarised at section 2.1 of the report be approved.

 

2.       The Capital Programme for 2017/18 and indicative programmes for 2018/19 to 2020/21 at Annex C of Appendix 1 to the report and summarised at section 2.2 of the report be approved.

 

b)       Housing Revenue Account Estimates for 2016/17 to 2020/21

 

Councillor Brownridge MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED a joint report which set out the latest Housing Revenue Account (HRA) outturn estimate for 2016/17, the detailed budget for 2017/18 and strategic estimates for the three years 2018/19 to 2020/21.  The report also set out the recommended dwelling and non-dwelling rents and service charge increases to be applied from April 2017.

The 2017/18 position had been presented after allowing for an increase in rent of 2%.  It was noted that the Government had advised that PFI properties would be exempted from Central Government’s 1% Social Rent Reduction Programme.  As all Oldham housing stock was contained within two PFI schemes, the 2017/18 budget would follow historic rent setting guidance of CPI plus 1%, which resulted in an increase of 2% (CPI was taken as at September 2016).

 

No members spoke on this item.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.       The forecast Housing Revenue Account out-turn for 2016/17, as outlined at Appendix A of the report, be approved.

2.       The proposed Housing Revenue Account out-turn for 2017/18, as outlined at Appendix B of the report, be approved.

3.       The strategic estimates for 2018/19 to 2020/21, as outlined at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.